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1 Dirham - Mutâ'in b. Waththab Citing the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir
| Issuer | Numayrid dynasty |
|---|---|
| Year | 1036-1040 |
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| Currency | Dinar (628/632-1598) |
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| Obverse description | Irregularly shaped hammered billon flan with a beaded border encircling a central field bearing multiple lines of Kufic Arabic inscription. The legend, arranged in horizontal registers within a circular inner boundary, references the Numayrid ruler Mutâ'in b. Waththab. The field shows typical die-struck characteristics of eleventh-century provincial Islamic coinage, with slightly uneven strike and natural flan irregularities. A marginal legend runs along the inner edge of the beaded border. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents multiple horizontal lines of Kufic Arabic inscription within a beaded circular border, typical of Fatimid-influenced provincial coinage of the period. The central field contains a pious formula and a citation of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir, acknowledging his suzerainty. The die work reflects the provincial hammered tradition, with slightly off-center strike and characteristic flan irregularity. A marginal legend is partially visible along the inner beaded circle. |
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| Additional information |
The Numayrids were an Arab tribal dynasty controlling the Jazira region — roughly the upper Mesopotamian steppe — who spent much of the eleventh century navigating between the competing gravitational pulls of Buyid, Byzantine, and Fatimid power. Mutâ'in b. Waththab's decision to cite the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir on his coinage was a calculated political alignment with Cairo against the Sunni Abbasid-Buyid axis, a choice that carried real consequences in a region where coin legends doubled as public declarations of allegiance.
Al-Mustansir's reign in Cairo had only just begun in 1036, making this issue among the earliest numismatic acknowledgments of his caliphate anywhere outside Fatimid-controlled territory.